Ella's project results, "Inducing an Aged or Rejuvenated Phenotype through Epigenetic Manipulations" demonstrate through cellular experimentation, that more research is needed to understand the efficacy of certain anti-aging compounds on human cells. In Ella's words, "Aging is a process that is not well understood in humans, which makes it particularly hard to study late-onset diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s. In the past decade, technology to revert mature cells back to stem cells (known as iPSCs) has been developed, but it has become apparent that the process of doing so removes the age signature of the cells, making it impossible to model late-onset diseases. My work focuses on a theory of aging that posits that age is a result of epigenetic modifications (changes in the regulation of transcription of genes). " Read Ella's full research abstract.

 

Simone's research project, "A Novel Haptic Actuator for Robotic Surgery: Utilizing Soft Robotics and an Electro-pneumatic Closed Loop Control System to Accurately Restore an Operator’s Sense of Touch," optimizes the controls for surgeons using a robotic arm, to allow for the real sensation of touch. In Simone's words, "This novel prototype represents the first remote actuator to successfully  deliver  “bio-mirroring” capabilities, which allow a virtual operator’s experience to mimic six key elements of an actual grasping experience: haptic (touch) input, haptic force feedback, grasping control, a compliant end effector, pliable haptic output and a closed loop control system." Read Simone's full research abstract.

 

Also, three organizations recently recognized Simone's robotics research. She earned: 

The Intel Science Talent Search (Intel STS) is the nation's most prestigious pre-college science competition. Alumni of STS have made extraordinary contributions to science and hold more than 100 of the world's most coveted science and math honors, including the Nobel Prize and National Medal of Science. Annually, students entering the Intel STS compete for more than $1.6 million in awards. Only 300 students are announced as semifinalists each year. From this select pool, 40 finalists are then invited to Washington, DC in March to participate in final judging, display their work to the public, meet with notable scientists, and compete for three top awards of $150,000 each.